


companions needed

by cettevieestbien



Series: help, i've soulmate ficced again, and i can't stop doing it [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual Character, Asexual Natasha Romanov, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/F, F/M, Gay Riley, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, OT5, Pansexual Darcy Lewis, Sam Wilson Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-03-29 05:46:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3884692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cettevieestbien/pseuds/cettevieestbien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe the universe and/or fate thought that four soulmates would make up for his 70-year nap. They weren't wrong. But for God's sake, why torture them, huh? That was just bad form, honestly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: The Time of The Meetings

In 1927, Steve met "They're gone now, ya know. Let me get you to the curb, huh?"

He'd gotten in a fight with three other boys, all of them bigger and older than him, over a veteran from the Great War. Steve's Da had died in that war, and he was viciously protective of all the vet's that lived in his neighborhood.

His heart had sped up dangerously and his asthma had started to kick him right in the throat and his back was aching and tears were coming to his eyes when someone punched the nearest boy clear in the nose. The mystery boy had cleared the floor in minutes, his assailants ran off, and Steve was left a gasping, hunched over mess.

The mystery boy stood for a moment, catching his breath, somehow reassuring Steve by showing that he wasn't the only one affected by the fight. Steve watched him run a hand through his hair before the other boy turned to him. Steve was colorblind and a bit nearsighted, but he could see this boy like he hadn't seen anything else in his life. It was like He had made the sun itself shine right down on this boy's head.

The boy jogged over to him, having caught his breath, and put out a hand towards Steve. "They're gone now, ya know. Let me get you to the curb, huh? At least to the curb," he said when Steve just stared at him, recognizing the words being spoken to him. "I can't just leave you here in an alleyway, waitin' to get slugged again."

Steve gasps, "my Ma's a nurse. I just need ta get home. You don't need to be wastin' time on me."

The boy pauses, also recognizing the words that hung in the air between them. He seems to understand something, a look passing over his face that changes to a mix of something Steve doesn't quite recognize. Then, sounding almost angry - "I'm Bucky. Never tell me you're a waste of my time ever again, and we're good."

Steve shrugs, not really listening, and not really being able to over the rush of blood in his ears and the scraping sounds coming from his chest. "I'm Steve. I didn't need help. I had 'em on the ropes."

Bucky just rolls his eyes and tugs at Steve's arm. "Sure ya did. C'mon, we need ta get out of here. Get ya home, or somethin'."

"Okay," Steve says and starts on a long life of following Bucky Barnes in a Brooklyn back alley, young and bloody.

* * *

In 2012, Steve meets "Captain."

He'd known he'd be in the army simply because of this mark. That's part of why he tried so hard to get in.

He's seventy years in the future, he's gone through an hour of a stranger fawning over him, he's tired and then, this beautiful redhead is introduced to him.

She says, "Captain," and hell, he learned his lesson about not reacting  _decades_  before. He keeps his face diminutive, because everyone this century seems to think he's incapable of being or doing anything other than boy scout charm and naivete.

He says, "Agent," and they don't realize they're soulmates until a few days later, when she's pulling car bits out of his stomach and he's cleaning up the scrape on her forehead, because they could not have been more bland and polite with each other when they first met.

She recognizes her handwriting on his chest, and is halfway across the room before he can even register she's not leaning over him anymore. She's off the floor entirely before he can stand.

He doesn't see her again until they send Loki off, and when he does, she pointedly acts like they aren't even friends, no, he's the gum on the bottom of her shoe.

A few weeks later, when he's in Nevada because he'd never been and why the fuck not, he could now, he had the money and the resources, she calls him despite him never giving her his phone number and tells him she wants to talk. She tells him where to meet, and he goes, because Bucky is gone, and he'll grab onto anyone and anything to give him a connection to this new and alien world that he acts like he's accustomed to. Other than Natasha, Stark is his only connection, and Steve isn't sure he'll ever be up for that.

That talk informs him that she's "ready whenever you are", which he doesn't understand until she offers him a sultry, but stiff smile. But, the thing is, she says it like it pains her, and he finds out that the Red Room trained her to be submissive to him, him and another man named James who was her other soulmate, a long time before. He sees red, angry that he couldn't help her  _or_  this James guy, and makes a plan right then.

He tells her he doesn't want to do anything she doesn't want to, and he's sorry she went through that.

"Yeah," she says to that, voice hard and flat at the same time, "you would be." She's prickly, she's shut him out in seconds, but he understands.

"I am. I don't like human suffering, if you haven't noticed." That's the theme of the new century - make everything a joke.

"Oh, I have," she rolls her eyes. "But please, tell me - did you actually tell Hitler off with your fist, or was that just a prop piece Timely Comics used?"

"Ha ha," he says flatly, deadpanning. The tense she had built up loosened a bit, and he counted it as a victory.

(Later, she'll tell him she's asexual. His response is to take her out on a date and then sleep in the same bed with her, but not  _sleep_  with her. He wakes up curled around her and she wakes up with a huge smile on her face.)

* * *

In 2013, he meets "Holy fucking balls!"

He's glad he woke up with that one, instead of getting it before the war. His Ma would've had his hide the second she saw it.

Natasha introduces him to her, because she has his handwriting on her collar bone. He doesn't know how they know each other, and he doesn't ask.

He sees her, a few minutes after he'd been rudely woken up by Natasha shouting at him to come meet her soulmate (and his too, she says in German, because she likes to keep him on his toes), and he thinks his heart stops. Bucky's voice in his head tells him that's been blessed with unfairly good looking soulmates, and that's what he bursts out to her like the awkward moron he is.

"I'm blessed with exceedingly attractive soulmates."

She gasps, obviously not knowing why she had been there in the first place, and recognizing the words and then promptly squeals to him, "Holy fucking balls! You're Captain Fucking America, the Defender of Truth and Justice! You're my soulmate! Wow! I get  _two_  hotties that can kick ass! Fuck yeah!" Then, she pauses. "Shit, I shouldn't curse in front of the Defender of Morals and Justice."

Steve grinned, and held out a hand, "I go by Steve," he offers, ears burning.

She smacks his hand away, and pulls him in for a hug. "I'm Darcy. Also, thanks for the soulmark ego boost, dude."

And there's lots of ribbing for a few minutes and then Natasha is pulling them into her room so she can make sure no one hears them complaining about StarkTech - namely Tony, because he would kick them both out two seconds after he heard them.

* * *

In 2014, he meets "Don't you say it! Don't you dare say it!"

He's in D.C., one part because his job says so, one part because Darcy's not in the tower - so he has not real reason to be there unless Nat was there but - one part because Nat's in D.C., too and one last part because New York drowns him in memories he'd rather not relive about Bucky.

But D.C. isn't that great, it bores him like most things do, so he goes running every morning.

On one run, he keeps passing a man with entirely too good looking of a face, so Steve teases him to get some reaction.

"On your left," he says, then speeds up enough he's out of reach.

He does this a few more times, the guy getting less and less amused, and when the guy finally responds with, "Don't you say it! Don't you dare say it!," Steve almost falls flat on his face.

The guy stops, too, and Steve raises an eyebrow, embarrassed and hot. "Um," he gets out, and then the guy is talking.

"Look, if you're my soulmate or something, that's great, but never say 'on your left' to me again. Ever."

Steve nods dumbly. Then, his brain starts to work a little bit, and he says, "I'm Steve."

The guy rolls his eyes playfully. "I knew that. I'm Sam." He pauses, then grins evilly. "You're about to be eating my dust," he says, and then speeds off.

Steve takes off after him, a grin on his face.  _Sam and Darcy will get along great_ , he thinks just as he passes by his newest soulmate.

* * *

"That's - that's  _James_ ," Natasha says to him? herself? no one? on the bridge. He doesn't register the words, despite them being emotionally clogged like he'd never heard before from Nat.

" _He fucking took my steering wheel_  -" Sam starts to yell from right beside him. His shouts go in one ear and out the other.

"Come back in good health or I won't cook for you anymore, Beefcake," Darcy tells him in his mind, words not providing any inspiration or advice. Her voice is faded.

"Do something, Rogers!" Bucky's voice advises him from the confines of his mind, but Steve is frozen.

He's frozen because all Steve sees is  _Bucky_.

Bucky, who is long dead. Bucky, who somehow had the handwriting of Nat ( _our third_ , they'd called her, unaware that they'd gain two more - or that Steve would, at least) on him despite his death. Bucky, who's own handwriting was on the bodies of Sam, Nat and Darcy. (They'd always wondered when they were going to meet their other soulmate - and then, Steve and the others had wondered why they had Bucky's handwriting when he was dead.) Bucky, who Steve's been in love with since he was twelve years old and probably longer.

"Oh my God," Steve says to himself, and then calls, loud and desperate even to his own ears, "Bucky?"

"Who the  _hell_  is Bucky?" The man calls back, and Steve nearly gets heart palpitations again, seventy years later.

* * *

Darcy sobs into his shoulder. Sam looks at his lap and doesn't seem to register anything, like he's in his own world. Natasha sits at the end of the medical bed and doesn't say anything.

Darcy's sobbing is the only noise other than the heart monitor and Steve's shushing noises.

"Steve," she cried, curling into his neck.

He swallowed. He wanted to cry, too, honestly. He'd told Darcy that the guy the news was saying was a terrorist was actually their fifth soulmate, and she'd started crying silently at first - something about stress and trauma and her period making her teary-eyed 24/7. When he'd started to tell her about what had happened on the helicarrier, with Sam and Nat listening in, since they didn't know, either, she'd really gotten into the loud, ugly crying he himself had gotten into during the war. Nat then telling them what had happened to him when she knew him as James was in no way helpful to his returned grieving.

The last time he'd really grieved Bucky Barnes had been a day after his death.

"I'm sorry, Darce," he whispered into her hair. He can't get his voice to come out strong or steady or above a rasp.

Sam suddenly started. "Hey, Beautiful?" He asked.

Darcy moaned a little to inform him she was listening.

"When I lost Riley" - his other soulmate, who'd been so excited to meet the rest of them despite not being theirs, too - "I didn't know how to go on for a while, and sometimes, I still have trouble. But Bucky, he, we - we can still try. We can still try to get him back. We can try to help him. He's not - not beyond help. I just -" He cut off, overwhelmed by grief for Riley, and Darcy started crying harder again.

Natasha just stared at Steve's shield by Sam's feet.

"I loved him," she says after another long pause in noise. "I loved him, and we got punished for it. He didn't try to make me do anything with him, either, and we just, we took comfort in the other. I told him that monsters could only love other monsters, and he accepted that, and we loved each other. He told me. But that - that wasn't the man I remember. He - he wasn't so far gone back then."

She dropped her head into her hands.

He swallows again.

* * *

They don't have to look very far or long for Bucky.

They find him sitting outside of Stark Tower, wearing obviously stolen clothes and shivering, despite it being April. He looks up, sees Steve, and cocks his head.

"I know you," he tells the four of them gravelly, and then repeats, "I know you."

Steve crouches down with his hands up. It hurts to crouch, the bullet wound in his leg still acting up, but he'll be fine. "Yes, you do," he nods.

"Why do I know you? They don't want me to know you. I'm not supposed to know anyone that isn't Handler," he begs Steve.

Steve swallows. He can't speak. He's so angry and sad and wanting and it's all too much for him.

Sam crouches down next to him, and tells Bucky, "my name is Sam. Do you have a name?"

Bucky sunk farther into the side of the building. He shook his head. "No. But those - those words, they were. They were on my stomach."

Sam shares a look with Natasha over Steve's shoulder. Bucky had said  _were_. Darcy crouches down next to Sam, so that they're blocking one side of Bucky, but he could still get away. "What happened to them, Stud? If you don't mind us asking."

He stared at her. "Those words were on my ankle."

"James," Natasha said, one hand on Steve's shoulder, and one on Sam's. She's very much so the one in control."We'll ask you questions later, okay? Do you want to come inside for now, though?"

"I know her," he mumbles to himself, then says quietly, "okay. Inside. Okay."

"Do you not want to, Bucky?" Steve asks, finally choking some words out.

Bucky looked at him oddly. "I don't understand," he finally told Steve.

"Would you rather go somewhere else?" Darcy and Sam ask at the same time.

He looks at them oddly, too. "Handler tells me where I'm supposed to go," he eventually told them, slowly, like he thought they were stupid and wouldn't understand unless it came out at a speed they could comprehend.

Handler. Steve clenches his teeth together so he doesn't try and tear what that means out of Bucky.

"Handler changed up his methods," Darcy says slowly, voice low with emotion. "Handler wants you to choose what you do from now on, okay?" She waits to get a hesitant nod. "Okay. So, do you want to go inside or do you want to go somewhere else, or do you want to stay right here?"

Bucky looked conflicted. His eyes darted from face to face. "I... I'll stay right here. I'm waiting for orders."

Steve drops his head, and tells Bucky gently, "there are no more orders. There's no more Handler. But you aren't alone, and you never will be."

Nat cuts in, "he means that we will all be there for you. You can tell us whatever you want."

"What do you mean by that last part?" Bucky asked, looking her in the eyes.

"I'll show you an example. Darcy," she said, turning to the woman in question, "I like your dress. It fits you well, both bodily and personality-wise. And Darcy, why don't you tell Sam something?"

Bucky watched avidly as Darcy grinned at Sam and confessed, "I like when you call me beautiful."

Sam turned to Steve, and said, "I didn't trust you not to be biased, and I was right to doubt, but I don't think the end result was too bad."

Steve turned to Bucky, and asked, "do you want me to tell you something?" Bucky nodded, eyes wide and mouth open in wonder. Had he not seen communication like this in memory? "I like your little nook here. It's pretty impressive."

"Can I tell you all something?" Bucky asked, just before flinching. "Sorry," he murmured.

"For what?" Sam asked, as the other boy and girls all shared a look.

"I spoke without permission from one of you." He sounds so sure that he's going to be punished.

"Bucky, listen. You can speak whenever you want. I wouldn't even mind if you talked during a movie - it's your right to speak when you want to and be heard. It's okay. Also, whatever Handler did when you spoke without permission, we will  _never_  do that. Okay?"

Bucky nodded, and replied, "can I still tell you the thing?" Sam returned the nod, and so Bucky let out a breath, beginning, "I don't like how Handler told me that my words were fakes. They always made me less angry, and he said they were fakes. I didn't like it - I,  _I hit him_ ," he whispered.

"That's okay-" Darcy started.

"Maybe you should react different next time-" Sam said.

Natasha simply raised an eyebrow and lowered her chin.

Steve clenches his teeth together.

"You're mad," Bucky says, gazing at Steve fearfully.

Steve shook his head, "no, Buck, I'm not mad." He moved out of his crouch, sitting down fully on the sidewalk. "Not at you."

Bucky relaxed into the side of the building just a bit. "Can I ask a question?" Steve, Darcy, and Sam all nodded, Natasha only giving them all looks. "Can I go inside with you?"

Darcy nodded, and slowly reached out towards him, her hand very pointedly aiming for his own. "C'mon, Stud."

"I like that - I like Stud."

"Good thing, 'cause we're all gonna call you that now," Sam grinned, standing up and pulling Steve with him. "Have you eaten?"

"No," Bucky responded quietly.

"Well, let's eat, people," Sam said and lead them all into the building.

Steve looked at Nat, and gave a look that said they would talk. But he let them both enjoy the moment, because really, who knew what the coming months would look like.


	2. Chapter Two: The Time of The Blowies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missing encounters from the first chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooooooooooo, everyone. A year and some change later, I've finally written something about this ship that I don't hate. It's considerably shorter (1858 words shorter), but I think it's kinda funny and there's only one hurt no comfort moment. There's less Steve and Bucky in this chapter, more Natasha, Darcy and Sam.
> 
> WARNINGS: mentions of bullying due to Riley being gay, mentions of what HYDRA was like when Nat was a young teen, some sexual references and cursing. Not beta'd, and I looked over it once. Please enjoy, y'all.

**one**

 

Riley is probably the hottest thing out here in this desert, Sam thinks at least twice a day. He can’t exactly tell the guy that, but the man is probably well aware. Sam’s always been a stare-r.

 

Staring - and making a face - is what gets them together, actually. Riley, according to the other guys around the base, is from Las Vegas, and had that terrible public school life you see in movies. He’ll fight you if he thinks you’re confronting him.

 

Sam is definitely not confronting him, but it’s clear that’s what Riley thinks. Sam has no idea why Riley thinks that, because the most interaction they’ve had is a training situation where they were on opposite teams. Sam had given the guy behind Riley a long, nasty look, mostly because he was complaining about everything he could. Riley must’ve thought the look was for him, because his eyes would follow Sam as he did his work, and not in that good up-down Sam enjoyed dishing out. No, it was the same look his CO gave, like he was getting sized up.

 

So, when the other guy comes up, mouth open to shout at Sam a few days after the training exercise, he says the dumbest thing he could ever possibly say: “I’m from Philly, but I was raised in D.C.! You can’t fight me!” It doesn’t even make any sense.  _ Born in Philly? So what, Sam, he doesn’t care! He’s gonna punch you no matter where you’re from! _

 

Riley’s fists drop immediately, and actually smiles. Sam is about two seconds from dropping to his knees and praising God for that smile, when Riley speaks.

 

“Do you have any idea how far D.C. is from Vegas?”

 

And……. A lightbulb pops up over Sam’s head. “Holy shit! We’re - are we?”

 

Riley nods, “I think so. You said my words, and I take it I said yours, so I’m pretty sure.”

 

Sam grins, totally elated. He holds up a single finger, and informs Riley, “please excuse me for a second, I have something I need to do.” Riley frowns, but doesn’t say anything.

 

Sam turns around and fist-pumps, then turns back to his freaking soulmate and makes sure he looks dignified. Riley is laughing, clearly  _ at _ Sam, not  _ with _ him, but Sam ignores that. “When are you free?”

  
  


**two**

 

The Winter Soldier is much more intimidating than Natalia was told. She’s supposed to roll over on her back for this guy, both figuratively and literally, or he’ll hurt her.

 

She does the opposite. She circles him, and he follows her lead, putting minimal, but still graceful, effort into turning. She taunts, “I thought you were taller.”

 

He frowns, and she thinks she might get why Ludmila was so scared of him. But the frown is only there for a second - it turns into a smirk immediately, and yeah, she definitely understands the order of  _ do whatever he tells you to with no hesitation _ . 

 

He tells her, “you remind me of someone. He was runty and too brave for his own good, too.”

 

She flips her knife and he lunges. She may be programmed to kill her soulmates, but then, he should be, too. Soulmates are for the weak - souls are for the weak.

  
  


**three**

 

Darcy knows what babes look like. She’s tasered one, for starters. The lady in front of her - red haired, sexy as hell, could for-sure snap Darcy’s neck - is a Class A Babe. She tells her as much, saying, “you broke my hotness scale. What do you have to say for yourself?”

 

The woman rolled green eyes over Darcy’s outfit and boobs, and said, “I didn’t break it, I simply extended it,” with the most grace Darcy had ever witnessed in another human being.

 

Because she’s so in awe, it takes her a minute of the woman staring at her to notice that she was even being stared at. And then it hits her like puberty hit the Sprouse twins - this lady just said the words in her tramp-stamp mark!

 

All of the books say she should calmly explain that she thinks they’re soulmates - but fuck that. She jumps at the lady and hugs her tightly. “I think we’re soulmates! You said my words!”

 

The lady pushes Darcy off of her, which, hey, is totally understandable. Personal space, guys. It’s a thing that some people appreciate.

 

The lady gives her an awkward smile, and Darcy takes a moment to admire her beautiful teeth. God, she doesn’t even know the lady’s name and she wouldn’t mind having babies with her.

 

“We are, but that doesn’t mean anything, okay? I’m here to work, and it’s going to stay that way. I’m in no place to get into a relationship. But… if you want to exchange numbers, I’d be fine with that.”

 

Darcy blinks a couple times, then nods. She gets that - that Clint guy was DTF, but she sure isn’t. Luckily, he’d been nice enough to accept that Darcy isn’t interested in him. His behavior makes her want to act the same to this lady - she’ll accept whatever she can get, whatever is given to her.

 

She nods again, kinda obnoxiously, but hey, she’s hopped up on caffeine, and she just got her iPod back, so excuse her. She puts out her hand, and says, “I’m cool with that, but we have to exchange names first. I’m Darcy.”

 

The lady shakes her hand hesitantly, and says, “I’m Natasha. It’s nice to meet you.”

  
  


**four**

 

Sam is still reeling from Steve’s bullshit during their run when the older guy insists he meet some friends of his. He makes it sound like Sam’s gonna be mated to these people.

 

Which, of course, is exactly what freaking happens. He sees two beautiful women and he says dumb shit just like the last two times. 

 

Steve introduces the darker haired one first, Darcy. She’s wearing an apron that says,  _ You can do a lot better than kiss the cook _ . It has fake tits on it. He only met Steve, like, two hours ago, but he can imagine just how red Steve got the first time he saw the apron. 

 

Sam tells her, “I like your apron. Very forward.”

 

Darcy gapes for half a second, and in that time, the red haired lady smirks big and wide. The hint of teeth grabs his attention, but then Darcy swishes the apron, and says, “thanks, I got it special-made to make Steve blush.”

 

And that throws him for a loop.

 

But, before he can say anything, the red haired lady comes up, and reaches out to shake his hand. “I’m Natasha. It’s nice to meet you. I don’t know if Steve’s told you this or not, but I’m asexual, so no blowies in the bathroom.”

 

His brain shuts the fuck down.

 

“I’m descending into madness, aren’t I? I have to be.”

 

She smirks. There’s the soundtrack of Darcy cackling in the background, but all Sam can think of is  _ Riley’s _ blowies, and how he is so totally fucked if that’s the first thing she ever says to him.

 

He turns to give Steve a frown and angrily shakes a fist at him - Riley always laughed, so why not - and then tells the girls, who are both giving him beaming smiles, “hey, my name used to be Sam, but now, it’s In Over My Head, capital I-O-M-H.”

 

Darcy grabs him by the elbow, dragging him deeper into the floor he and Steve stepped off on. She starts gushing visibly about how  _ she _ is very much so interested in blowies, and so is Steve, and isn’t everything great in life?

 

Sam just met three of his five soulmates, though, so he doesn’t exactly listen. 

 

He’s so overwhelmed, in fact, that his only thought is,  _ fuck you, Steve _ .


End file.
